I was driving home to NY on Christmas Eve, got stuck in terrbile traffic going onto the George Washington Bridge. My 2004 X5, under warranty started smoking really bad from under the car. I am told the clutch burnt out and almost had a fire.

BMW roadside was not permitted access to the car because of where it was. Only approved towing campanies are allowed on the approach to the bridge. The towing cost to a BMW dealer was $450.00. When I called BMW Roadside, they told me I could submit the bill for "consideration". So, my first question is, has anyone run into this kind of situation before?

Next, the car is at the BMW service center. They (kindly) give me a loaner car, actually a rental (Enterprise, Ford Taurus). I live in Maryland and had to get back to work. So I drove the car home, about 230 miles. The service manager told me that he could only authorize the rental for 5 days and that if they could not fix my car within those 5 days I would have to pay for the extension of the rental car. Is that really true?

This might be pushing it, but is there any possibility that they would flat bed my car to Maryland or do I really have to drive all the way back up there to pick it up?

Are there any other benefits available to me through the Roadside Assistance or BMW service that anyone knows of?

Please let me know your thoughts.

Thank you